deercountry | [Open] 🚬 July Flames

[a panda? dabi arches a brow at the appearance of the creature, though certainly not as much as he would've had it been its larger cousin. ~~that'd be a more tai lung response.~~ between the two of them, wolf could probably eat it without a problem, but since it's omen to omen, there's no point. besides, the lupine creature is more focused on what's ahead.

with the nod, however, dabi merely steps back, leaving nara'a to handle the incoming beast. oh? feline. smaller than he thought it'd be. not lax enough to leave his hands in his pockets, the villain braces himself, ready to move as his eyes follow the beast's battle with nara'a. from the razor blade of air to the sizzle of lightning (look, you're burning shit too; stop giving him grief cause he's better at it), and the finish of a glowing-bladed slash, it's an impressive combo.]

All right.

[hey, he's selfish enough to get his hide out of danger range if nara'a's gonna do something big. though he doesn't like the look of this creature in front of them. it's angry, but in the way that seems injured. and wolf is still on alert to more sounds further. this seems like something running from something else.]

Better finish this one off quickly. Think there's more comin...

Yeah.

[He nods and focuses again, a white energy exploding around the thing, and he follows it up with a rotation of his rapier. Red circles appear, and he dashes through them to become a red streak, slamming into the panther's side. It roars and tries to turn towards Dabi, but a quick uppercut to the jaw has the monster focusing on him again.]

[That one's not a technique, just dirty fighting.]

[He slashes again, trying to avoid spilling blood - some gets spilled anyway. He huffs and backflips, sending another round of air and lightning at the creature until it's howling in pain. He dashes in and kicks it in the face - there's the snapping of bone and then a stab through the head. It stops moving with a gargled growl, falling to the ground.]

Should probably move before something comes to eat it.

[dabi's silent as he watches nara'a deal with the creature in front of them. strange, mixed techniques, impressive in their own right, though he pays attention both out of self-preservation and to keep in mind anything that he'd need to remember in case he and nara'a came to blows. they almost had at the start of this, after all... from energy explosions to sword slashes.

and with that flurry, it's over. dabi rubs the side of his neck as the creature falls to the ground. he won't put it as "dead" immediately, but it seems handled well enough. without waiting, he extends his hand-]

Outta the way, Nara.

[-and blasts a stream of fire towards the fallen beast. blue flames immediately swallow it, taking only two seconds to reduce the entire thing into a pile of blackened ash. out of minor "give a shit" towards nara'a's original comment, he aims the flames towards the ground more than a horizontal burst, trying to hit the floor instead of send a stream further into the trees forest around them.

but that's just in the face of something else finally approaching them. trees push to the side, falling beneath the larger mass, blue fires mottled out beneath blackness. oozing fluid bubbles and runs downward as a slogging hand reaches through the trees, fingers pushing the boughs to the side. looming above them, the beast pours into view, a dark mass of molasses-thick mahogany liquid continually oozing off its body. shoulders and arms visible within a tar-like "cape" of dripping flesh that's somewhat indistinguishable from the folds and squishes of gunky "robes" covering its body, crowned with a skeletal face pushing out amid a dribbling hood of similar sticky substance. the plants fallen beneath it are quickly absorbed within the dark fluid, leaving a slime trail path behind it of gooey emptiness. it regards the two through hollow eyes sockets, faint light deep within.]

... gross.

[He moves out of the way and watches the other incinerate the panther-thing. At least he's aiming it down -]

[Shit. Something else is coming. He hears the heavy footfalls before he can see the creature, and once it starts to come into view he shifts back to his reaper outfit. He's not sure what spells are going to do against something like that, and if the creature has flesh... his scythe will find it. He takes a deep breath, readying himself to pull on the darker energies he has access to.]

Very.

[He dashes forward, scythe swinging into the goo to seek out any flesh underneath to cut. He might need to try to slash a few times to get at it, but he's less concerned about damage at the moment to himself rather than the creature.]

[surprise. dabi can be accommodating when he feels like it. though as the new threat drags itself forward out of the trees, he's somewhat irked that he'd avoided a full-bore blast. that would've given them something of a head start on this thing...

whether or not those dripping flows down its body are flesh or something else, he can't tell. it looks like the creature is a living blob, but somewhere within those rolling oozes is a framework of a body. dabi lifts one hand to the side, a ball of blue fire appearing and abruptly spiraling into a wilder, more intense flame as he charges it up.]

Not sure I'm gonna be able to avoid settin the forest on fire. If ya got some kinda handy teleportation spell, better use it now.

[and shoves upward with a brief spurt of flames from his feet. getting above the creature while nara'a goes at it with his scythe. it's almost like carving into sentient molasses, with the scythe carving into the folds and gunk and rending it open in a clean slash, but that cut's just as easily sealed up as more of its slime oozes down into the split.

it does, at least, recognize the attack, and turn its head towards nara'a before sprouting one of those large humanoid arms and reaching for him with a splay of dripping fingers. not fast, but still large and powerful. and probably sticky enough to capture a hand or foot or weapon if left longer than a second on its surface.]

[Normally he does. Here? Not so much. He kicks backwards, getting his distance and assessing his options. He's dealt with slimy creatures before, but they tend to have at least some kind of core. Maybe this one doesn't.]

[He hisses at the creature and ducks to avoid the slimy arm, getting in another slash and another. Right, then. Time to get serious.]

[The miqo'te concentrates and a figure manifests behind him, shooting a cloud of dark energy forward. He dodges and slices, all the while the dark entity swoops and almost 'breathes' out the clouds of dark energy. Finally he twirls his scythe and the being settles around him like a cloak, and Nara'a is changed.]

[He knows it won't last long, but he darts around the creature, sending bolts of dark energy at the thing. He has to destroy it before it hurts someone. He has to. With a final bit of strength, he tosses a ball of dark energy at the creature, sending red and black spikes up to impale it. The avatar leaves Nara'a's flesh and disappears, and he's back to how he looked before.]

[dabi remains where he is in the sky, watching the miqo'te assault the creature with enough flare he swears he's watching one of those weird video games that shigaraki likes to play. from scythe swinging to creating some kind of ethereal creature behind him that attacks with him in tandem, it's an impressive display that has the villain figuring he made a good call to pull back his initial antagonism towards nara'a when they met today.

that said, it also means he can't get in a good shot with this asshole flipping and dancing around the pile of goo. dabi's not known for precise sniper shots of flames...

while the scythe doesn't seem to do anything to the creature, asides from threaten to get itself stick the more and more its blade and shaft get splattered with the gunk, the dark energy pouring out onto the monstrous beast does have more effect. calcifying, crystalizing, freezing, burning, whatever he wants to call it, the energy hardens the outer exterior of the drip-covered skeleton. the beast's lumbering form swipes at nara'a multiple times, but like a giant swinging at a fly, it's not able to catch either attacker. however, it's big enough that unless the miqo'te has a way to extend his scythe's range, he's not able to cut deep enough into the beast's oozing cloak/flesh to reach anything solid or vital. if there is indeed anything under there...

with a final lob of a bomb, spikes erupt from the creature, causing it to recoil and roll back on itself, one arm up and a low groan of annoyance and pain emanating from within it.]

Move.

[that's all dabi's going to call in warning before sending down a flood of blue flames from above. directly above. almost as if the beast is taking a shower in burning fire. with the spikes keeping it--somehow--in place, and nara'a to the side, dabi's got a clear shot to outright drench the thing in an inferno. pouring his flames out to cook and incinerate. the massive size of this thing reminds him of that damn giant all for one left behind, but its slow flailing and groaning indicates it's not nearly as impervious as that bastard.

only after he notices a faint wisp of smoke rising from his own flesh does dabi cut off the attack and drop back down from the sky. he lands on the ground a bit of a distance from nara'a, though the scent of burning flesh is prevalent among the smoke. at least until the odor of the torched and impaled beast rushes past them. it's gonna be cooked into a solid mass.]

[He's frustrated, angry that the thing doesn't seem to be reacting. It's just making him more and more angry as he continues - but he hears that call and shifts to the side, leaving a glowing portal where he was.]

[The flames pour down and he winces, frustrated that Dabi got the kill. He knows he should just be glad the thing is dead, but his scythe can only reach so far... ugh. Whatever. At least the thing's done. The stench doesn't really bother him all that much - he's used to the stink of monster carcasses.]

[He huffs and squares his shoulders. At least it's done.]

Should have gone paladin... just haven't had much cause to use my voidsent much.

[truth is, dabi wouldn't have felt confident enough to pour down those flames without nara'a's involvement. the dark energy and the spikes certainly left the creature slowed down enough to give him the chance to charge up and strike it. without catching the miqo'te in the blast. consider that a brief extension of trust.

dabi looks at his hand, frowning slightly at the faint wisp of smoke drifting up from between two of the staples on his wrist. he's not at his "warning" threshold yet, in that what burns he's endured will heal fine without further scarring. but until he has a chance to cool down, it won't be advisable for him to pump out more flames.

that's what you get when your damn mother gives you an freeze-resistant body and your fucking father gives you a fire-manipulation quirk.]

What? Ya sayin that's enough to wear ya ou-

[*thwup*

dabi's voice cuts off as a dark tendril of slime abruptly slams him right in the chest and knocks him off his feet. the charred husk of the creature cracks and more of that slime spews from the burned carapace as the beast semi-literally sheds its outer "shell" and sloughs out onto the battle again.

who said this thing was dead?

waves of sludge-like flesh shlorp and splash onto the ground and the beast's skeletal face once more pushes through the "hood" of its vaguely body shape. it does look smaller than before, both men having burned and energized and skewered a chunk of its mass away with their first assault. but neither got close to hitting anything "core" on it. and now it's faster, retracting that tendril of slime before launching off four more towards nara'a, coming in like living snakes of viscous flesh.]

No, I -

[He senses it before he sees it, the beast's 'revival'. His Echo warns him of something coming, so he switches back to paladin and he jumps away, slashing at the tentacles as he does. He's annoyed more than anything, that this thing won't quite die.]

[He slashes, again and again until he finally slams down his blade, forming ethereal blades in front of him. Once, twice, three times they slam down and up through the creature, trying to hit something, anything that's a core.]

[It's his last gamble - if this doesn't work, red mage spells definitely won't do shit against it. If only he had a dragoon here, they'd probably have a weapon long enough to pierce this thing's 'flesh'. Whether they'd want to get such a thing on their weapons is another matter entirely.]

[the impact takes his breath out. feels like he just got jammed in the chest with a beam. there's a dull pain somewhere inside his torso and his vision rolls in his head from the impact on the ground. not even wolf had been fast enough to warn him of the attack.

fuck... gonna... take a few moments to catch his breath as he sits up, a few sucking pants trying to get his lungs unstuck. what'd he think, that this beast would go down in an instant? cursing himself at being an idiot, dabi glares to the side at nara'a and the beast.

the slashes slam into the creature and pass right through it, causing the low moaning to evolve into a louder moan of distressed surprise. the ethereal blades carve clean out the other side, sending one of its slimy arms falling to the ground and crashing into the brush like a rotten fruit bursting all over the area. for a moment, nara'a would be able to make out a black bone within the shoulder area, glowing red and orange in the center like an archaic cigarette lighter in a car (not that he'll get the reference, but meta). before the sludge covers the wound up again.

the other strikes through the side and the chest definitely sever it, but like passing a knife blade through gelatin, the creature easily settles itself once again as its body flows back together. another arm sprouts where the previous had been sliced off, shrinking the creature down once more thanks to shifting its mass to make up for the missing limb.

only to charge forward in a much faster rush. both arms spreading open and throwing an X-shaped stream of gunk towards the warrior.]

It's the shoulder!

[He knows a weak spot when he sees one. He attempts to get out of the way but can't quite manage it. He's slammed back against a tree as the gunk covers the front of his armor and shield. It's gross and smells terrible, and it gets everywhere.]

[He growls a little, kicking off from the tree and trying to slash into the shoulder. He lands a hit and misses the second swing, but he darts out of the way in case Dabi wants to try to take a shot. He's slower than he was before, still trying to get the goo off of him. He's pretty sure that's not good to have on him.]

[something about a shoulder... dabi isn't sure if nara'a's yelling about the creature or if he's bitching about his own injury. doesn't really matter. he's getting up anyways. pushing himself back to sitting position, just in time to see the other man get smacked right off his feet. familiar sight, huh. but with nara'a jumping back into the battle, he can't get a clear shot without tearing the guy open.

lucky for him, that problem's resolved soon enough and he immediately pours an explosive cone of flames outward, slamming into the creature with enough force to wash clean over it. probably far more width than he actually needs, considering the outer rims of the attack blaze through the forest again. but in this case, they're gonna get fucked over even worse if they worry about some goddamn plants.

if nara'a's armor is magical, then it likely won't have much trouble resisting the corrosive effects of the sludge. if not, however, it's going to start eating away at the metal. case in point, dabi's basically lost the front part of his shirt thanks to that slime. doesn't seem to affect skin though? weird... the villain's already burnt the rest off him. sticky shit is sticky.

the creature, once again caught in the flames, struggles through it, having to deal with another outer layer burning and hardening into a blackened, glowing shell.

hope that attention's sharp, because the sliced off arm? yeah, that thing's getting up on its fingers, devoid of slime now to reveal a skeletal set of black bones, and goes running towards the smoking husk. likely to try and crack it open.]

[It seems to be resisting the corrosion all right, though he still tries to wipe it off. It's gross as hells and he doesn't like it. Fortunately for him he seems to be all right. The flames reveal a skeletal core, and he focuses on that, darting in and slashing to try to break the arm before it can get back to the main body.]

[He circles around a little and tries to find a weak spot, any place where the slime seems thin or broken enough. He slashes where he can and dances out of range where he can't, doing his best to not get in the way of Dabi's flames. He's felt them, and he doesn't really want to deal with those again.]

[it's a bitch to simply "wipe off" with his hands. like trying to push syrup with more cling. the kind that can get sluiced with a finger, but then stays on the finger.

the beast twists and curls its arms around itself within the flames, slower and slower as more of its outer layer is rendered brittle and hardened into burnt flesh. on the one hand, it's slowly "frozen" in place beneath its own carapace. but on the other hand, it's protecting its innards via the same. letting its opponent cook itself a shield instead of scorching through.

nara'a's clash with the skeletal arm is far more physical and the black bones crash against his weapon in a deliberate show of strength. bone and blade screech against each before the beast throws backwards, sending scythe and arm rebounding, before the next strike actually sees the hand catch the scythe in a bony fist. starting an "arm wrestle" of sorts with the man and monster for control of the blade. apparently this arm neither wants nara'a to impede its return to its body, nor does it want the man to get close to the body either.

dabi has to cut his flames soon enough, dropping his arm to the side. shit... that burns. unless he wants to cook himself some more scars, he's gonna have to break off and cool down... so it's up to nara'a to keep that arm busy.]

[The sword slices and Nara'a seethes, kicking the arm with a metal-clad boot. Hopefully it's enough to knock the thing for a loop, because he's getting very tired of this stupid enemy. It's not responding well to any of his attacks, and even he has his limits of what he can tolerate.]

[He jumps up and lands on the arm, trying to break it into pieces. The hand especially he'd like to get to fuck off, because it's preventing him from going back to the main body.]

Hells take you, you blasted thing!

[Hopefully another few kicks can get this thing broken.]

[The arm does indeed go flying after the kick, crashing into the ground a few feet away and skidding as it digs its fingers into the ground. Just in time for the man to slam down atop it and crush it. Between the impact of his landing and the rain of blows, the skeletal structure is cracked and rent apart at the ligaments, spewing slime and glowing "blood" from each piece ripped off. It takes some work, but once he's shattered the thing to pieces, popped each of the connections, the scattered bones go limp, no longer fueled by whatever ichor had flowed within them.

Hells had certainly taken the blasted thing. But unfortunately... that was not the creature's weak point. It still remains within the dwindling plume of Dabi's flames, though neither it nor the villain are moving, both of them being stuck in a "cooldown" period. Dabi for his own physical safety, and the creature for a chance to regroup and regather inside its charred shell.]

[He turns and dashes towards the monster, trying to slice through the shell and reach the bone. He's aware there's temperatures hot enough to cremate things, but Dabi doesn't appear to be willing or able to get the flames that hot for whatever reason. He ignores the flames, letting them lick over his armor - it's hot, but not deadly at this point.]

[He's stuck - there's not too much that he can do other than keep slashing. Most of his attacks are either ramming or slashing, and the pitiful amount of fire he can make himself isn't going to help much. Electricity won't, either.]

Just... die... already!

[He bashes open the shell, trying to get through. How many more layers can this blasted thing have?]

Oy!

[dabi extends a hand, yelling at nara'a and his damn reckless actions. on the one hand, those flames are still there, dwindling but hot and licking. on the other hand, didn't he see what happened last time? they're fighting a goddamn slimy onion! peeling it back one layer at a time. if he tries to go for the center of it again--

as soon as nara'a pierces into the shell, there's a muffled, deep groan from inside and the scalding sludge from inside bursts out from the confines of its crisped exterior. slime tendrils fling wildly in all directions, throwing the miqo'te backwards and lashing through trees and stones with all the precision of a high pressure water cannon.

dabi grits his teeth and jumps to the side, dodging one of those tendrils before hitting the ground and rolling to his foot and a knee. dammit. he popped the thing too soon! they could've had a breather for a second!]

Bastard! I haven't cooled down yet! Ya ever heard of a battle of attrition or ya just good for hack n slash?!

[odd for a man whose battle strategy usually revolves around brute force fire bursts. but that's his problem: dabi can only brute force fire blast. and that burns him alive if he does it frequently. he has to rest between bursts.

the slime creature rises from its own juices once again, this time far more humanoid, with defined shoulders and arms and torso, the head itself siting above with a pair of horn-like protrusions dripping into itself. no legs beneath its hips however, giving it some resemblance of a slime-drenched naga oozing all over itself. the arm that nara'a previously destroyed is more tentacle than defined arm like the opposite. likely due to lacking bones.

round three.]

[He doesn't respond to the angry villain. To be honest, hack and slash is most of what his fighting tends to be like. It also tends to work, but he's also used to having three to seven other people with him to help carry the load.]

[The thing's new form reminds him of the Living Liquid, or maybe something from the Aetherochemical Research Facility. Either way it's gross and he doesn't appreciate being flung backwards. He rises and shakes his head, adjusting his glasses. If only he could freeze it or burn it - but he doesn't have the same sort of abilities that Dabi does.]

[What to do... slicing hasn't worked. Neither has just bashing the thing. If he could get in deep enough to shatter bones... he leaps and tries to stab in as deep as he can, aiming to sever its spine. Maybe now that there's been a few layers torn off of it he'll be able to get in deeper? He can only hope. And if nothing else, he'll serve as a distraction. He can take a lot more of a beating like this.]

[he has the right idea. there is a solid structure under all that gunk. and as he saw with the arm, destroying it at least renders the creature less solid. but with its new state, the creature is far more equipped for an active battle. the slime tendril of an arm slashes forward the moment nara'a goes for it with the scythe. understand what he aims to do, it's not about to let him get that close with his skeleton now closer to its proverbial surface.

slime crashes into the scythe's handle rather than the blade, shoving it backwards against nara'a's chest before he has a chance to get into striking range of it. that's enough impact to knock him away, showing the two the creature doesn't intend to let the man get close enough with that physical weapon of his. it's vulnerable at the moment. its skeleton at least.

dabi frowns as he processes all this, not willing to hurt himself with his quirk in order to destroy this creature. it's not worth that to him. but he does know nara'a's too damn stubborn to stop either. and the creature might turn its attention onto feed later, which is a detriment to his own wants. tsk... rationalizing shit. once the warrior's knocked back again, dabi holds a hand out in front of him to block the man from charging once more.]

Stop it. You won't get through charging in like an idiot.

[his eyes narrow at the creature as it begins to slither towards them.]

Can ya do that damage transfer thing again? Where ya take the injuries I get?

[The sword gets shoved back into the armor with a clang, and he gets forced back, digging his heels into the ground. He leaves skid marks as he gets forced back, growling against his foe. He looks to Dabi, watching the other.]

[He's being stopped. Dabi's got a plan. He can listen at least, try to see if it'll work - because what he's doing clearly isn't working.]

Yeah. Just tell me when.

[He flicks the sword to the side slightly, focusing on the aether between the two of them. He can feel the spell getting ready, just waiting on him to activate it. He growls at the monster, and glances over at Dabi again.]

It's ready. Let's go.

[Whatever damage Dabi's going to do... he can take it. Probably.]

[skid marks. what a "hero" thing to do in this instance. seen that plenty, where they dig their heels in and make sure to show their power by leaving grooves in the ground. probably says something about nara'a being strong enough to stay upright despite the force of the impact.

dabi won't be giving nara'a any verbal credit, but the man's attacks have been working. only they're not fighting something that can be taken out in one round. it's far smaller than the towering behemoth they first encountered, even if it's still taller than both of them. this thing's going from one form to the next the more overall damage they do to it. he's pretty sure those... "elemental"(?) attacks the man was doing earlier would be just as effective, since they were also cooking the creature's outer surface, particularly the dark energy one. dabi's flames simply had more an area of effect aspect to them.]

Get it ready then.

[no, he's not cooled down enough. using his flames will start to burn him again. but if nara'a's willing to take that damage, then dabi'll blast out another round from his proverbial glass cannon.

as soon as nara'a gives him the go ahead, dabi pulls both arms back, igniting his flames in his hands. balls of fire at first, before powering up into a spiraling plume of flames on both arms. it's not enough time to rest and the fire inside starts to eat away at his body, burning beneath his skin and heating him up like a piece of meat in an oven. enough that smoke would start to rise from his flesh, leaking out of the seams between his burn scars and healthy skin.

but if nara'a's gonna take that damage... have fun with that.

dabi slams his hands forward, blasting out another swath of blue flames that erupts out in a cone again. not taking the chance of having this creature dodge. tendrils of slime fly upward to block, but cook immediately in the fire right as the flames wash over the creature. once more, it starts to fold in on itself, flexible outer flesh hardening and burning into a shell as it's cooked from the outside in.]

[Listen, it's all about the aesthetic, Dabi.]

[He throws out a tether to Dabi, keeping a mental note of the amount of time spent. He can do it again, but it'll take a minute - so he wants to use his time wisely. He grunts as he feels his flesh burn from the inside of his gauntlets, but he doesn't scream. He's been beaten to an inch of his life many times before - this? This isn't as bad as some things he's experienced.]

[It's still bad - he can feel the blisters start to form. Smoke rises out from between the plates of metal, and he nearly drops his shield, but not quite. He glances down at it, at the thing it's glamoured to look like...]

[No. He wouldn't give up, either. He takes a deep breath, counting the seconds. Three... two... one...]

Stop!

{The tether fades, and Dabi's damage is his own again. He can't do it again for a minute or so, and he doesn't want the other to hurt himself. He eyes the monster, watching it fold in on itself like a punctured balloon. He's not going to attack it, not yet - first he has to determine if it's even still alive.]

[But he can do that in a minute, regaining his footing after all that pain. He can still move his arms, but there's still the faint scent of burnt skin.]

[hmph. showoff...

he'd learned how to hold some of his fire back, throwing others off who thought he'd exhaust himself completely when he went for a cooldown. their faces when he unleashed another blast the moment they thought he was save to move in an land an attack on. but there's no time for holding back right now; if nara'a's going to take the damage for him, then dabi floors it, already pissed enough they've gone three rounds with this damn thing.

blue flames ignite the area around them, casting heat and light everywhere as the creature goes up in its own funeral pyre. curling in on itself once more, tucking those gelatinous parts deeper inside itself as its body cracks and hardens on the outside. beside him, the miqo'te gives a pained noise, but other than that stays quiet from the burning. tough guy...

as soon as the man shouts at him to stop, dabi cuts his flames, curling off his fingers in a flare before he lowers his arms to his sides. there's certainly a lot of woodland damage right now, but it'd mostly focused on the beast in front of them, limiting the harshest burns that dabi'd been throwing around before.

amid the flames, the creature's been burned down to an almost egg-like shape. larger, probably around 7 ft. it's sealed itself inside once more. waiting for the flames and heat to die down so it can emerge once again.]

Give it a minute... then slice it to pieces.

[Open] 🚬 July Flames

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)